Mark Zuckerberg (마크 저커버그), Meta's CEO, pursued an acquisition of prediction market company Kalshi, NPR reported on June 30.
NPR cited 3 people familiar with the matter.
Zuckerberg met Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour (타렉 만수르) last year to discuss an acquisition, but negotiations did not advance, the report said. Mansour refused to sell, and Meta was uneasy about legal and ethical issues surrounding Kalshi, it added.
Zuckerberg later formed a team to develop Meta's own prediction market app, Arena. Internal documents reviewed by NPR show Arena works by having users predict future events. Users bet with "virtual money" rather than real cash, and Meta AI generates questions and determines winners and losers.
Both Kalshi and Meta did not comment in detail when asked about the acquisition talks.
Meta's moves resemble tactics it has used before.
In a trial last year, the Federal Trade Commission argued that Meta uses a strategy of buying up emerging rivals or, if it cannot acquire them, launching similar services to undermine them.
Chi-gyu Hwang
delight@d-today.co.kr